MIAMI – A man set the world record for eating meat (in pounds) at Miami’s premier BBQ restaurant.

MIAMI – A man set the world record for eating meat (in pounds) at Miami’s premier BBQ restaurant.

In what started as a normal family dining experience at a popular Miami BBQ restaurant, ingestion experts are now calling it “impossible,” “improbable,” “freak of nature” and, of course “repulsive.”

A Brooklyn man visiting Miami over the long weekend has eaten his weight in barbecue meats over a period of 7.5 hours at Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue in downtown Miami. Sparky’s proprietor, Kevin Kehoe, remarked, “Blew my mind! This guy comes in with his family and orders a half rack of ribs and a pulled pork sandwich, like any normal dude, but he just wouldn’t stop. The guy was inhaling everything. We almost ran out of meat.”

Starting at about 5:15 p.m., the restaurant staff confirmed, the man started his dinner and upon finishing his first entrees, asked for the menu and proceeded to order everything else – multiple times. Pulled pork and smoked chicken thighs were the favorites in his eating binge that proceeded well past the restaurant’s closing hours. Recognizing something special was happening – Sparky’s remained open and actually fired up its specialty Friedrich smoker to prepare more food. Several items came off the smoker in time to keep his eating fest going.

The man’s family – who has requested anonymity as they go through counseling – both emotional and financial – was at first passive at the picnic table seating in the restaurant. But as the eating procession continued, they became more and more excited and even began to cheer. “Go baby backs; go smoked duck; go pulled pork; go catfish; go jerk chicken, go Mahi Mahi, go chopped chicken…” It’s still not clear if the man had planned to compete in this weekend’s Miami marathon… but he certainly was well fueled to make the distance.

But in all the rejoicing, there were some sad faces amongst the Sparky’s side dishes… as the man, in his quest for meat, refused to eat the mac & cheese, collard greens, baked beans, cole slaw, corn or even mashed potatoes. Only the banana pudding got the nod, as the final course on the eating spree – which concluded 168 pounds (and two bathroom breaks) later.